


Found

by OTPSterek4evernever (sterek4evernever)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexuality, Chatting & Messaging, Drama & Romance, Everyone Is Alive, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Mates, Peter Not Being an Asshole, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Stiles Stilinski is a Little Shit, The Author Regrets Everything, WIP, sex chat app
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-16 03:20:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21501016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sterek4evernever/pseuds/OTPSterek4evernever
Summary: Derek has deep emotional issues, resulting in a very lonely life. Peter is not a nice person, but for the people he loves, he will even leave his Pack.  Stiles is depressed, seeking a connection to bring him back to life. They find each other.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Peter Hale, Derek Hale/Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 20
Kudos: 98





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was previously posted and I deleted it because I didn't think I'd be able to finish it. Now its a work in progress and I will do my best to work on it regularly and finish it soon!

Cora Hale could smell her brother’s bullshit 10 miles away. She knew for sure that Derek could not have extra practice for Math Olympics after class, no matter what he told their parents. He not only hated school, save for sports, but he sucked at Maths. There was something fishy going on, and she was getting to the bottom of it. After all, annoying her older brother was part of her job description. 

That afternoon she waited in the fields next to the track team until she saw everyone else leave school. Then she snuck back in and started walking towards Derek’s homeroom, where she expected to find him and the Math group with Ms Mann. 

As she approached the door, it suddenly opened, and both Derek and Ms Mann came out of the room, alone, murmuring. They walked in the direction of the exit slowly, while Derek carried his backpack and Ms Mann’s briefcase. Where are they going? Are they done already? It was weird that it was just the two of them. Derek had said he’d be late. Maybe they were done early, and Derek would use it as an excuse to go over to Boyd’s and play some video games. 

She was about to turn around and leave when she saw Derek carefully look around and then taking Ms Mann’s hand. They linked their fingers and continued walking towards the parking lot. Cora frowned. What was her idiot brother doing?

She followed them to the parking lot, taking care to stay behind and not get caught. Derek and Ms Mann approached her car, and she opened the trunk. Derek placed her briefcase and his backpack in. She closed the trunk, and they both got in the car. 

What the hell is going on? She approached the car to try and get a better look inside, and what she saw nearly made her fall on her ass. Ms Mann and Derek were passionately kissing inside the car. Derek’s hand was inside her blouse, fondling her breast, and her hand was very close to Derek’s crotch. They were both moaning loudly, and Cora was horrified. What was her dumbass brother doing with his Maths teacher?

Cora got her cell phone out and quietly filmed them. Once she got a few pictures clear enough to identify Ms Mann and Derek, she silently backed away and started running towards her bike. She thought about calling her mom right away but knew that showing her the video would be better than a phone call. Cora was worried about Derek. She might be young, but she knew that what Ms Mann was doing with Derek was wrong. 

***

Derek felt like a champion. This afternoon had been fantastic, and he still could not believe how happy he was. Ms Mann, Jenna, had taken him to her apartment and they had finally had sex. He was no longer a virgin, and he felt fantastic. Nothing could ever ruin this mood. Jenna had dropped him back off at his car a while ago, and they had kissed some more against the Camaro before she got into her car and left. 

He showered quickly in the locker room, just as a precaution. He didn’t want his family to catch him smelling like sex and Ms Mann.

They had agreed to meet that Friday. He would sneak out of the Pack reunion and meet her in the Preserve. He was already planning to pack a picnic and bring several blankets. He could not wait for a repeat of this afternoon. 

As he drove, he thought about Jenna. About how mature she was and how comfortable she made him feel. He was in love with her. He parked his car next to his parents’ and wondered what dad was doing home so early. He wanted to get something to eat and go to bed. He was exhausted. 

When he got inside, his parents were waiting for him in the living room, hands clasped together. He could hear Cora and Laura somewhere inside the house. His parents were pale, his mom barely controlling her tears. 

“Derek, where were you this afternoon?” asked Talia. 

“Mom, I was at school, extra practice with Ms Mann, remember I told you?” said Derek. “Is everything alright?” 

“Derek, we need to tell you something,” said his mom. 

“Mom, Dad, what’s going on?”

“We know about you and your teacher. Cora saw the two of you together in her car, kissing,” his dad said. 

“I swear I don’t know what you are talking about! I have no idea what Cora thinks she saw, but it’s not true, you have to believe me!” Derek said, desperately. 

“Honey, I promise you’ll be OK,” Talia said soothingly. She realised Derek was starting to panic. “We are not mad at you, but we need to tell you something.” 

“You, you don’t understand. We are in love. She loves me!” Derek said, finally. 

***

She plasters on a fake smile and opens the door for the two Deputies that have been ringing her bell for the last 10 minutes. She’s wearing a towel around her hair and shorts and a tank top. 

“Good evening, ma’am, I’m Deputy Stilinski this is Deputy Ellis. We’re with the Beacon County Sheriff’s Department. We have some questions for you.”

“Deputy, what is this all about? She sizes them up and slowly removes the towel from her head. 

She makes sure to rub her arms together to show more cleavage.

The deputies look uncomfortable but stand their ground. 

“May we come in, please? Unless you’d prefer to do this at the station.” 

She lets them in. Ellis seems to be easy to persuade with some flirting and she’s sure she can get Stilinski too. She approaches Deputy Ellis slowly, as seductively as she can, and places her palm on his chest. 

“Deputy, you still have not told me what this is about. I am sure we can work something out…” she flirts. 

But Deputy Stilinski is not having it. He immediately stops her hand, now angry with the situation.

“Ma’am, I think we better discuss this at the station”.

She takes a step back and sneers, “I am not going anywhere with you!”, throwing the towel at Deputy Ellis. She flings a chair to Deputy Stilinski and tries to run away. 

Having evaded the chair, Stilinski ran, quickly caught up to her and cuffed her. 

“Jenna Mann, you are under arrest for the assault of a police officer. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.”

“Oh honey, you have no idea who you are messing with.”

***  
“You, you don’t understand. We are in love. She loves me!”

“Listen to me,” his mom says. “After she dropped you back off at school, Ms Mann was arrested at her apartment. When Cora came home to tell us about what she saw, Derek, she had proof. She had video and pictures. We immediately called the sheriff’s department. You have to understand, honey, she was taking advantage of you.” 

Derek was paralysed. He could not believe this was happening. His parents had found out, and now Jenna was in jail? There had to be a way to fix this! 

“Mom, Dad, listen. I know this is not the way you should find out, but Jenna and I are in love. Everything will be OK. We’ve got plans, and I’m sure all this is a big misunderstanding. Please, talk to the police mom, they have to let her go. We are in love!” pleaded Derek. 

“Honey, there is more. She tried to seduce the deputies that went to take her to the station. Once that failed, she attacked them. They ran a background check on her, but there was no record of a Jenna Mann. With this information, they got a warrant and went to her apartment in search of evidence of who she is. Derek, baby. I’m so sorry, Jenna Mann does not exist. Her name is Kate Argent. The police found a dossier on each of us, schematics of our home, even of the secret tunnels below. She was planning to start a fire the day of the Pack gathering. She wanted to burn us all down, and she used you to get the information.”

They were all crying by now, Laura had come in in the middle of the explanation and had plastered herself to Derek’s back, holding him while he cried. Cora was silently crying from the door, not daring to go near Derek, in fear of him lashing out on her for telling. 

Derek sat there, dumbfounded, surrounded by his family, processing what he had just heard. Jenna did not love him; there was no Jenna. Kate Argent had flirted with him, kissed him, fucked him for information. Information to kill his Pack. 

“Kate Argent is a hunter. She comes from a hunter family, and she’s dangerous. Sources tell us this is not the first time she’s seduced a member of the family to gain access to the packhouse. She surrounds it with Mountain Ash and watches them burn. She pays off the fire investigators and then moves on to her next target. My sources are trying to link her to previous fires. She’s killed or decimated at least 15 packs that we know of.

Derek couldn’t stop crying now. How could I be so stupid? 

“I promise you, Derek, she will not succeed. You are OK; we are going to be OK. This is not your fault, Derek” his dad says. 

They all kept repeating it, hoping he would trust them and accept this was not his fault. 

***

The Trial takes over a year. Both Derek and Cora are called to testify. The police, working with the FBI, manages to link one fire to her. A Pack in New Orleans. Twenty four deaths, thirteen of them children. Kate is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and ordered to pay a multimillion-dollar reparation to the families, including the Hale’s. 

And just like that, life goes on.

Derek spends most of his time in his room, going through different scenarios in his head of what could have happened if Cora had not gone to their parents with the video. He constantly has nightmares of fire and screaming and dying. Sometimes, he dreams of Jenna (Kate, her name is Kate, idiot) and their kisses, touches, the sex, and wakes up drenched in sweat, a hard-on tenting his boxers, and ready to vomit. He feels filthy and appalled. This woman was planning to murder his entire Pack, and he still thinks with his dick. The guilt is slowly eating him away.

One day, Derek is in the kitchen when Laura and Cora come home. Cora stops at the door, unsure of whether to talk to her brother or scurry away like she’s been doing for the last year. She starts to back away when Derek speaks to her. 

“I don’t hate you, you know?” says Derek. 

Cora is surprised by him talking to her. As much as she’s been avoiding him, he’s been doing the same. 

“I don’t hate you,” he repeats. “If it weren’t for you, we’d all be dead.” 

Cora is frozen in place by Derek’s words. Derek mistakes her shocked face for loathing, looks at her with remorse in his eyes, and quietly turns around to go back to his room, leaving a half-finished banana bread dough on the counter. 

Cora struggles. On the one hand, she wants to hug her brother, give comfort to her packmate. She misses him. On the other hand, Derek doesn’t seem to be very receptive. She’s scared of making it worse. 

“Derek, wait,” she says. “Look, I know that I did the right thing, OK? But I hate seeing you like this. You have to understand this was not your fault. I miss you! I feel like I destroyed any chance of us having a relationship when I went to talk to Mom and Dad,” she says, raising her voice. She is not just sad; she’s angry. 

“You cannot shut me out! I am tired of not being able to be in the same room with you, of you not even looking at me. You want to be mad at me, BE MAD AT ME! Yell, I don’t know, wrestle, but PLEASE, Derek, please, stop avoiding me!” she finishes, now crying.

Derek turns around and grabs Cora into a fierce hug, full of love and gratitude. 

“I am so sorry, Cor, I am. So sorry!” he tells her. “I swear I am not mad at you. I’m ashamed that my little sister caught me. I’m appalled that I almost got the whole Pack killed. I feel many things, but none of those has anything to do with you. If anything, I am grateful for what you did, even if it hurts. I love you, Cor, please don’t cry,” he finishes. 

That evening Derek goes to bed feeling lighter. 

*** 

Derek’s senior year is a quiet affair. He keeps a very low profile, only talking when he needs to, and just hanging out with Boyd and Erica. He prefers the solitude he finds in early mornings at the gym, where he punishes himself with ridiculous amounts of exercise. Or the quiet he finds at home, in the kitchen, baking, which has become his therapy. When he bakes, he finds contentment in the simple things, measuring ingredients, kneading the dough for bread, preparing Cora’s favourite chocolate chip cookies. He enjoys the smells, not only of the baked goods but the scent of a happy family when they come home to find him baking and not barricaded in his room. 

He’s been making an effort lately, of being more in the kitchen and less in his room. He wants to be better, wants to be the son his parents want him to be. But he still feels guilty.  
The graduation celebration is very low key, just him, his sisters and his parents. Dinner at home. Nothing fancy. He takes a few months to finish figuring out what he wants to do with his life. He knows going away to college is not an option for him. He cannot leave his home. Has to make sure they are safe, always. 

Derek enrols at the Baking and Pastry Arts program in Beacon Hills Community College. He midway decides to register for Business Administration too. Four years later he is a certified Baker and the proud owner of a Bachelor’s degree. He is also terrified at the prospect of being a grown-up since with the reparation money he’s got enough to start his business, purchase a cabin in the Preserve, and not work a day in his life. 

***

Frontier Bakery was blooming. Boyd and Erica had come to work with him, although how the business could thrive with Erica’s customer service style was a real mystery. Derek had a routine that he religiously followed. He’d wake up at 3:30 a.m. and run to the bakery from his cabin. He then took a shower and started with the baking. Erica usually arrived around 5:00 a.m. to help with the opening, at 7:00 a.m. Derek had decided to specialize in Italian bakery, and he prepared focaccia exclusively. And after his focaccias ran out, he closed the bakery until the next day, so he ended his days at around 2:00 p.m. 

This left him time to volunteer at the local animal shelter, where he would work at whatever Mrs Henderson asked him to do, from cleaning cages to bathing puppies, and he stayed there until closing, at around 6:00 p.m. He would then visit his parents, sometimes catching a ride with Laura, and remain there until after dinner. He’d then run back home, exercise for a couple of hours, read a bit, and go back to sleep. Then rinse and repeat. 

He only changed his routine on Sunday, when he’d run around the Preserve, take a dip in the lake if it wasn’t too cold, and then go back home to read by the fire in winter, and out on the porch during summers. He lived a quiet life. 

Erica was tired of this easy, boring life he’d made for himself. Derek was young, he was very handsome and had a beautiful smile. But ever since Kate, he wouldn’t date. Wouldn’t even consider looking at anyone, sleeping with anyone, let alone connect with anyone. And as Derek’s best bro she was entitled to meddle with his life and make it more exciting, which is why she hacked his email account and signed him up on a sex chat app. If he wasn’t getting any, at least here, he could figure out what he wanted when he was ready. 

***

‘Erica? Why is there a sex chat app on my phone?


	2. Chapter 2

Peter Hale, left-hand of the Hale Pack, was ruthless when he had to. He was also loyal to a fault, a family man, a loving brother to Talia, a favourite uncle to Laura and a good friend. He was young, sexy and very much interested in getting laid as much as he could. He lived in the Packhouse and also owned an apartment, where he would take his latest conquest. But he never brought any of them to the house. He had never felt a connection with any of his bedmates that warranted even a second encounter. He lived a happy and fulfilling life. 

One day, he started to feel restless. He’d patrol the territory’s borders twice each night, check on the wards, and still felt like something was coming their way and it was driving him crazy not to know what was going on. He consulted a few contacts, describing the feeling, but no one had answers. The uneasiness grew in intensity for the following months, Peter’s tension almost unbearable at the Packhouse until he finally decided to move permanently to his apartment. Slowly but surely he was losing his mind. He’d still patrol, and visit the Packhouse every day, but he always felt better at home. As the months went by, he started feeling like he could control the feeling and grew used to it. He started picking up young men from the local bar or club for a steamy night at this apartment. And slowly but surely, his life was back on track. 

***

Talia felt tired and proud. Labour had been long and painful, but after what felt like hours, Derek was finally in her arms. She held him, overjoyed to meet the newest member of the Pack. She turned to her husband and handed him the baby so she could rest for a while. She could hear little Laura outside the room, speaking excitedly with Peter about her new baby brother. 

Peter came into the room, eyes trained on the baby. Talia smiled tiredly as her brother reached for baby Derek to scent him for the first time. The moment Peter held Derek, he felt a spark ignite deep in his heart. He could immediately sense it. Mate. The restlessness he had felt for all these months was a mate bond, and it was both a curse and the most beautiful thing he had felt in his lifetime. From that second onwards, all hopes, aspirations, dare we say dreams Peter had, died. He knew he would always feel empty and alone because he would never be able to act on his instincts to love, care and provide for his mate like a lover would do. Not with Talia’s child. 

He almost dropped him, overwhelmed from the feeling of having his mate so close, to smell him, to have contact with him. Fate had presented him with a fantastic gift that he would never be able to enjoy. Mates were rare, and the possibility of ever finding another mate was almost null. He almost left then. 

All this realisation happened in a matter of seconds, and Peter quickly schooled his features and calmed his heartbeat to appear calm before Talia and her family. He nuzzled Derek for a few more seconds and placed him on his father’s arms. 

He told no one about this. No one could know that Derek was his mate. Talia would be devastated, and she would probably ask Peter to leave. He couldn’t risk losing his mate and his Pack. So he kept it to himself, even if he wanted to shout it to the world to hear. 

He stayed with them for a few more minutes and then took his leave. 

***

Peter stayed. He would have given his life to leave, but he couldn’t leave his family behind. And Derek. Sweet baby Derek was the light of his eyes. As if he could sense the mate bond, little Derek was Peter’s shadow. At first, he’d follow Peter with his eyes whenever the wolf entered the room. He’d stop whatever he was doing and just stare at Peter with wide eyes and give him a beautiful smile. 

At the years went by, Derek sought Peter whenever he was at the house. First to play, and as he grew up, to talk about his day at school, about his dreams, his nightmares. Peter became Derek’s confidant. And each piece of trust that Derek put upon Peter felt like a gift that Peter did not know what to do with. He felt as if he was living a lie, never telling anyone about the mate bond. Peter would spend hours watching Derek play with Laura, and later on with Cora. He felt he was betraying his sister by doing so, but he felt entitled to his own selfishness. This would be the only way he would get to be with Derek. As his uncle. As his family. Nothing else would come from the relationship they had. He longed for it, but he’d make sure it stayed that way. 

Peter knew he wouldn’t be able to stay forever. One morning, a couple of weeks after Derek’s 13th birthday, Peter woke up and could feel a shift in the mate bond. Before it had felt dormant. One-way. Today, it was wide open. Peter knew it was time to go, this time not only the Packhouse but Beacon Hills altogether. 

Several years ago he had put in place a backup plan, for when he had to leave for good. He called an old college friend, Kali, and together they had founded a Law Practice with headquarters in New York and an office in Beacon Hills to oversee California. Up until now, Peter had been in charge of the office in Beacon Hills, but in a few weeks, he’d move permanently to New York, to take his place as a partner in the headquarters. It took two weeks to coordinate the move and to come up with an excuse to tell Talia why he needed a change in scenery. That conversation had not been fun. 

“You worry me, Peter” had told Talia when he had told her about his plan. “You will be moving all the way across the country, join a small pack and leave yours here, because the dating pool sucks? Are you serious? You are throwing away your whole life because you are tired of fucking the same people? Have you heard yourself?”. Talia was livid. He had played her like a fiddle, telling her exactly what he knew would hurt her so that she would let him go. Encourage it even. 

“You know what? Go, Peter. Just go. You are unbelievable” her voice broke, and while she retreated, Peter could hear a sob. He hated doing this to his sister, but the alternative would hurt her even more. 

*** 

The toughest part of leaving was saying goodbye to Derek. He was young, starting to feel the beginnings of the mate bond but with no idea of what he was feeling. 

“Uncle, I don’t understand. Why you have to move to New York? You’ve worked from here always. Please, I don’t want you to go” said Derek while he clung to Peter’s back in a hug so powerful, Peter almost changed his mind and cancel his flight. But he had to be strong. Both for him and for Derek. This was him being selfless and wishing Derek the life he deserved, with someone his age, who would deserve him, love him like he couldn’t. 

“I know Mom is upset, and she won’t tell me why you are leaving,” said Derek.  
“You wouldn’t understand Pup, but this has nothing to do with you” he lied. Lucky for him, Derek couldn’t yet tell if someone was lying. “I promise I’ll call, and visit”. Another lie. 

Derek hugged him again, and then the taxi arrived. The last time Peter saw Derek, he was standing on the driveway waving goodbye. 

***

Within a few hours, he was on a plane to New York. The moving company had already shipped the few pieces of furniture he wanted to keep and all of his books. He had sold the apartment and cars. Starting next week, he would be the new senior partner at his law firm. Clean break. 

He worked from the wee hours of the morning to late into the night, making a name for himself in New York as a top lawyer. He gained recognition from his peers. Both men and women undressed him with their eyes whenever he managed to go to a club to release some tension. He usually had a couple of drinks and would take whoever fancied him to a hotel. He’d fuck men and women, sometimes both when he was really winded and tried to stay away from young boys with wide eyes that reminded him of the things he’d left behind. Sometimes he couldn’t and would end up crying alone in the hotel the morning after. Those days would be hard, and he’d throw himself into work to forget. 

It took a while, but slowly, Peter started enjoying his life again. 

*** 

Talia calls repeatedly and asks him to come back home. The calls become less frequent as the months go by. Derek calls too, and Peter cannot dismiss him as quickly. They start talking once a week as soon as Peter gets to New York, but as time goes by, Derek has other interests, and the calls become less frequent. Peter never discourages him from calling but doesn’t actively encourage either. Then, the calls just stop. Even after being away for a couple of years, he always thought there would be one phone call that got him to come back. But now that Derek was busy with something (or someone else) Peter finally feels at peace.

***

Peter had been feeling restless for the better part of the week. He had tried going running around Central Park, he had fucked a twink two nights ago, he even tried a bath before bed yesterday, but nothing seemed to help. Tonight he had some wine with dinner, thinking about maybe going out clubbing to find another twink when his phone started ringing. He was about to let it go to voicemail when he notices it’s Talia calling. They haven’t spoken in over a year, the last time they did the call did not end under the best terms. 

He sighs as he prepares himself to fight her. He is not expecting his sister to be sobbing on the other end of the line, neither he expects to hear Derek’s name with said sobs. He immediately straightens. 

“Tell me what’s going on, right now,” he commands Talia.  
“Hunters, Peter. They almost got us. They used Derek. She lured him and seduced him, Peter. My baby. They were going to burn us to the ground.”  
The wine glass cracked in his hand, pieces of glass cutting his hand only for a few seconds before it was healed, blood staining the white rug.  
“Who.”  
“The Argents”.  
“I’ll take care of it. Tell me how’s Derek.”  
“We need you to come back, Peter. Please come back, we need the whole Pack together.”  
“I can’t do that. I can’t explain why, Talia, but I can’t do it. I’ll take care of the Argents, you don’t need to worry about it. I have connections with the FBI, and knowing that goddamn family, this is probably not the first time they tried this. I have to go. I’ll call soon.” and with that, he ended the call. He had to take a few breaths and count to ten to calm down enough not to destroy his apartment. He calms down enough to do his part. He is, after all, the Left Hand. 

There is nothing more he wants to do when he hears what happened than to go straight to Derek and console his mate. But he knows that if the goes back, there is no turning back. He’d let Derek realise they were mates and he would never let him go. 

Peter had worked hard to stay away, and even if this killed him, if it ended up ruining what was left of his relationship with his sister, he would not go back. 

And he is right. That phone call is the last time he speaks with his sister. 

***

Peter always keeps tabs on his family. Only he does not speak to them anymore. He nearly goes back when Derek is called to testify against Kate, ready to be by his mates’ side. He manages to control himself and stays in New York. 

He learns Derek is doing better, almost done with college. He learns Derek is opening a bakery, that he moves to a cabin in the woods. He learns that Derek is happy with his life, his friends, his Pack. And that is enough for him to feel he is doing the right thing by staying away. 

On the days of the full moon, he runs his small Pack in Lenoir Preserve, about four hours from Manhattan. It gives him a reprieve from missing his Pack, even if he’ll never admit to it.  
He dates casually, enjoys sex but runs away, screaming from intimacy. He needs someone who can keep up with him, which he cannot find in anyone he beds. 

One day, he overhears a couple of lawyers talking about a hooking-up app that has a delightful chat forum. Why on earth are they talking about this during office hours, he has no idea, but just because he can, he reports them. He is an asshole, sue him. Later that night, he downloads the app. He browses the forums and realises the lawyers were right. After weeding the topics, he finds that there are a couple of people he could chat with. Maybe this way, he would be able to find intellectual gratification.


	3. Chapter 3

Stiles life, in his opinion, was plagued by loss. He lost his mom when he was 8. He lost his dad at that same age too, not to a disease, but to the bottle. Luckily, Melissa brought him back when he was 10. And when he was 17, he lost Scott. 

When Stiles decides to go to UC Berkeley, he almost backs out of that decision a million times before enrolling. He has a full ride, so in the end, that’s why he leaves his father behind. College is just three hours away, and he’ll probably manage to come back at least once a month. But when your father is your best friend, your only friend… It’s hard. 

The day Stiles and John finish packing his mom’s baby blue jeep with everything he can take with him, Stiles bursts into tears. He’s never been away from home for more than a weekend, and even then, he had never left Beacon Hills. 

“Aw kid, come here”. John pulls him into a hug, Stiles body going lax once his arms settle on his father’s back. “I’ll come to visit next week. I’m still mad I couldn’t reschedule that damn conference, but next week I promise I’ll be there. This might be a good opportunity for you to make friends without me around” he jokes.

Stiles laughs while he rubs his hand over his face to dry his tears. 

“Listen, son, I know things have been hard on you ever since you lost Scott,” Stiles starts crying again, “but I want you to really make an effort to connect with people while you are in college. This is an amazing opportunity to give yourself another chance at being happy. Please, take it.”

Scott, his best friend, his brother, had died two years ago. He suffered from asthma and one day during PE, he had collapsed. EMTs had pronounced him dead when they got to the school. He had been Stiles’ only friend, since Kindergarten, and when he died, Stiles was all alone. He not only lost his best friend, but he also lost Melissa, who could not bear to live in Beacon Hills without Scott and transferred to a hospital in San Francisco six months after his death. 

Without Scott in his life, Stiles drew into himself and started staying at home on Netflix and playing video games online whenever he was not in school. Sure, he had classmates he could call friends, but he treated them more like acquaintances and denied himself the emotional connection. Soon, they stopped looking for him and trying to get him to go out with them. Stiles became depressed. 

Luckily, the Sheriff was on top of things, and soon Stiles was on antidepressants and going to the psychologist once a week. And things started to look up, he would leave the house more often, would go to the movies with his classmates, even go to some Lacrosse games with his dad, but he still lived his life as little as possible. All his energy went into his studies. When he researched and wrote papers, he felt alive. He was a member of various academic forums, where he would spend hours reading and replying to posts. 

John had a tough time convincing Stiles to leave for Berkeley when his letter of acceptance arrived with a full scholarship offer. Stiles wanted to stay and go to community college, he did not care where he studied, then get a job at the local library and never leave his dad. He was all he had left. Stiles finally caved when his dad said he would visit Stiles as much as possible, and that Stiles could come home whenever he wanted. 

***

The drive to Berkeley takes forever, half the drive he spends with his dad on the phone convincing him not to turn around and come back, the other half listening to Joni Mitchell on repeat. Sue him, he is a sucker of angst. 

Once he gets to his dorm building and gets his orientation package from his extremely bubbly floor assistant, Stiles makes his way to his dorm room to meet his roommate, Steve. They have already chatted a few times, to get to know each other, but when he comes into his room, there is no one there. So he picks his side of the room, drops his bag and papers and goes back down to get more stuff from his jeep. 

When he comes back, there are about 5 guys in his room, his stuff moved under the bed, and one of the guys is standing in the middle of it, laughing. Apparently, all his school buddies have come to Berkeley too, and have decided Steve’s room is the new boys club. 

The guy in the middle looks at him, sweeping his eyes from bottom to top, “Hi, Stiles, right?” he says. “I’m Steve. Nice to meet you, man!”  
“Hey man,” said the rest of the guys.  
“Um, hi”, stammers Stiles, while rubbing his head, standing awkwardly against the doorframe. “So, what’s going on?”.  
One of the guys smiles. “Dude, your room is the best! The elevator is right there. Bringing in a beer keg will be a breeze.” 

That’s the moment Stiles realises this is going to be hell. 

***

He’s away from home, lonely, feeling like he does not belong. Steve turned out to be an asshole, always throwing parties in the room, even when Stiles was sitting there, keeping to himself and trying to study. One time he had come to the place to find it locked. He could hear Steve and his buddies in there, trashing the room as usual, but there was no way for him to get in. He had slept on the couch and had not been able to get his things to study for a test he had the following day. He had tried talking to Steve about this. Wanted to make him understand that he was on a scholarship and had to concentrate on school. He told Steve he did not like to party, that he needed quiet to think. That same day Steve had thrown another party and locked Stiles out again. 

Stiles had tried to change roommates or find a room by himself, but after two months of college, all the places were taken. He had asked his advisor if he could maybe rent a room somewhere, but all freshmen are required to sleep in the dorms for their first year. 

The worst thing is he truly likes college. He just does not like this college. He wants to go back to Beacon Hills, to his dad, his routine. To study quietly in his own room, where there are no assholes drinking and partying until the wee hours of the morning. Decision made, he sits down, cracks his knuckles, and starts researching community colleges. Stiles is going home. 

***

Several hours later, Stiles has picked where he’s going, has emailed his university counsellor and has started the transfer process. He’s also spoken with his dad, who cannot hide how thrilled he is to hear Stiles is coming home. This will undoubtedly cut back his clogging arteries tendency, but Stiles will be home!

Pumped up with the adrenaline that making big decisions leave, he keeps bouncing his leg and surfing the web, doing his best to calm himself down enough to go to sleep. Somehow, he ends up in a forum for a gay online community and app, reading about threesomes. Stiles is a virgin. He hasn’t even kissed anyone. He has no idea what he’s doing there, but he creates a username and starts browsing the forums.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos are appreciated! And I'd love it if you'd leave me a comment! :)


End file.
